New Release - The No-Prep Gamemaster: Train Your Brain to Run Tabletop Roleplaying Games - Second Edition

A little background. I own the first edition of The No-Prep Gamemaster, and I like it. I found that I was already employing many of the techniques described, but it did a good job of helping me identify my strengths and weaknesses as an "improv-style" DM, as I often refer to myself. Was the author's voice a little off-putting? At times, but nothing a few years of honing one's writing skills couldn't fix ;)

Thus, I found myself looking at the preview file of the Second Edition of The No-Prep Gamemaster: Train Your Brain to Run Tabletop Roleplaying Games. Sure, its a damn long litle, so I'll shorten it going forward to The No-Prep Gamemaster 2e. Much better.

From what I saw in the preview, it's worth the current price of 2.99. So, I grabbed a copy of The No-Prep Gamemaster 2e and will put it at the top of my review pile for after the June Convention Season (I have NTRPG Con later this week and Central NY Con the following weekend.) I'm excited to delve into The No-Prep Gamemaster 2e and give you my full thoughts on it, but at 2.99, it qualifies as an impulse buy for any prospective (or seasoned) GM.

Are you a game master who’s short on time, overwhelmed by prep, or tired of burnout? The No-Prep Gamemaster is your solution.

This updated and expanded second edition of Matt Davids’ well-known guide offers a practical, inspiring approach to running unforgettable tabletop RPG sessions, with little to no prep beforehand.

Inside, you’ll discover:

• A mindset shift that takes the pressure off GMing
• How to improvise encounters and adventures on the fly
• Tips for training your brain to generate ideas naturally
• The power of random tables and how to use them
• Ways to engage players without hours of planning
• Practical reflections to help you improve with every session

Whether you’re a brand-new GM or a veteran looking to rekindle your love of the game, this book is packed with tools, insights, and encouragement to help you prep less and play more.

Let go of the guilt. Embrace the chaos. Run better games.

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Deal of the Day - 7th Sea Core Rulebook (Second Edition - 80% Off)

There comes a price point where a product falls under "impulse buy", especially RPGs. For me, that's the "5 Dollars and Under" point. Well, the 7th Sea Core Rulebook (Second Edition) certainly does that for me today. With a list price of 24.99, and a normal price of 14.99, until tomorrow morning the 7th Sea Core Rulebook (Second Edition) is the Deal of the Day at DTRPG (in PDF), and can be had for a mere 3 bucks!

Yep, purchased today's Deal of the Day just before putting up this post, as 7th Sea is a title I've heard much about and have yet to experience. 

7th Sea is a tabletop roleplaying game of swashbuckling and intrigue, exploration and adventure, taking place on the continent of Theah, a land of magic and mystery inspired by our own Europe. Players take the roles of heroes thrown into global conspiracies and sinister plots, exploring ancient ruins of a race long vanished and protecting the rightful kings and queens of Theah from murderous villains.

Save the Queen of Avalon from treacherous blackmail!

Thwart a dastardly assassination attempt on the Cardinal of Castille!

Raid the villainous fleets of Vodacce Merchant Princes!

Free the Prince of the Sarmatian Commonwealth from a mysterious curse!

Make decisions that alter the very course of Thean history!

In 7th Sea, you are a Hero, an icon of Theah ready to live and die for causes that matter. You bravely take on a dozen thugs with swords, knives and guns all on your own. You are the trusted knight, a loyal bodyguard or even an adventuring queen herself.

In other words—you are d’Artagnan, Milady de Winter, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Jack Sparrow, Julie d’Aubigney, and the Scarlet Pimpernel all rolled up in one!

This is a game of high adventure, mystery and action. This is a game of intrigue and romance.

This is 7th Sea. 

 

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Why is There A Lack of Alternative Digital RPG Storefronts to DTRPG?

Many of us have bemoaned the lack of viable alternatives to OneBookShelf/DTRPG for years.

Before OneBookShelf (actually, Roll20 now, if you look at your emails) merged with RPGNow, there WAS competition. Heck, DTRPG used to offer a "Free Game of the Week" (not a bad idea actually) in an attempt to lure customers to their site (some of these PDFs were protected by some weird Adobe security features that were a huge PITA). OBS kept RPGNow as a mirrored storefront of DTRPG for years.

There was also YourGamesNow. Never a huge site and barely used, I'm not sure many noticed its demise.

IndiePressRevolution has been around for years. Not sure how much use it gets from Old School Gamers, but I remember snagging Spirit of the Century from there a number of years back.

Lulu is an alternative, but it is a slog to navigate.

Frog God Games tried to launch a storefront for more than just their own products back at the end of 2015. It didn't go well.

Big Geek Emporium is a newer storefront that launched with minimal fanfare, or if there was fanfare, it missed my attention.

Venger has a post about supporting some alternative digital storefronts. Even if you have problems with the messenger, his message is the correct one - we need alternatives. We need competition. One company should not be the gatekeeper of the world of digital TTRPGs and PODs.

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Black Friday Sales Have Gone Live at DTRPG

This year's Black Friday Sale is live over at DTRPG, and will be live through Monday, 11/28/22. Discounts appear to range from 20-30% off a ton of titles.

Tomorrow, Black Friday, and 11/28, Cyber Monday will have special deeper discounts on a few titles.

I'll follow this short post up with one tomorrow highlighting the special titles and some OSR picks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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New Big Dragon Games Unlimited's Creature Cache is Now Available as Print on Demand and PDF

I know that Erik is rather forgiving with me here at the Tavern and I don't shill here too often, but when a friend comes out with something cool, I'm going to shill. Hell this time I even have a special mention on the project because the author is not just a friend, but my GM.......so I kind of helped playtest this thing.*

I'm certain everyone here will be relieved to know that my PC survived, thanks for thinking of him/me.

If you were a participant last year at NTRPG you might have seen the three-volume Creature Cache set that Richard LeBlanc Jr. had put out special for the con. If you weren't a participant Bad Mike *may* have some copies available for a future auction if you have to have the special edition pre-release.

Again, if you were at NTRPG you'd have gotten the spiel from one of the folks thanked in the book (Richard was largely missing from the con due to a surgery) that there was a 4th volume coming. Well it has come, but not as a separate volume. Instead Richard and New Big Dragon Games Unlimited (say that five times fast!) complied all four volumes into a single book, available as a softcover, hardcover, and (now) PDF (Lulu link for the printed books and DriveThruRPG for the PDF).

Now I'm a fan of the digest-sized (ok, 6x9 so US Trade?) hardcover myself, but folks seemed to prefer the softcover. I know if I asked Richard really nice he'd gift me the PDF, but I'm not a big asker, so I went ahead and used this PDF link and a virtual Alexander Hamilton to get it off of DTRPG. Well I had to make sure the link worked anyway.....

So if you've picked up the Creature Compendium 1, which is free/PWYW on DTRG by the way, you know what you're in for and this is a no-brainer. Now CC2 (which is the Creature Cache) is a little different, largely because while every monster still has a pic, Richard didn't do all the art (actually any of the art) himself. Instead he combed through a bunch of old pulp comics and magazines and used art that is now public-domain.

I did something similar once myself when I found and old book of western Folk-lore creatures.....yeah not as easy as it sounds, well it wasn't for me. Richard does a good job and who doesn't want a bunch (200ish) new monsters for their OSR campaign?

Highly recommended and something I'm willing to spend my money on.......and I'm willing to bet more than a few folks here would be interested in this as well.

*See?

DTRPG Site Was Hacked on Friday, May 20th, 2022

I was wondering why DTRPG was down on the evening of May 20th, 2022. Then I had the following forwarded to me:

Meredith Gerber (She/Her) — Today at 10:27 PM

MAY 2022 SECURITY UPDATE

In the afternoon of May 20th, 2022, we had a security incident on site that we continue to actively investigate. We have no evidence that any customer account data was compromised.

A third party was able to set prices on titles that they were not authorized to modify, and they set the prices of many titles on site to free which led to some customers placing orders for free titles that were not meant to be free. We shut down the site shortly after this began to happen.

@Publisher & @CC Creator:

We are restoring the site to service, however, for the time being, there will be no access to the normal tool pages to enter or edit titles or to manage bundle titles. We continue to investigate these pages for any security issues and will restore them as soon as we can. Files can still be updated with the normal update file tool page.

Publishers may still use the main publisher hub title search to find and make some edits to titles.

In the coming week, we will analyze any titles that were ordered at incorrect prices and make restitution to publishers and creators whose titles were affected.

We will continue to post messages to Discord, publisher hub, and social media as our investigation continues.

Interestingly enough, there was no mention of this incident on the DTRPG Facebook page.

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Cyber Monday Deals - DTRPG - Mork Borg, Sine Nomine, Savage Worlds, Warhammer and More

Cyber Monday Deals at DTRPG are here.

In my opinion, three out of six of the deep discounts are certainly OSR centric, and I own four out of the six

I also already own them, in Print and/or PDF ;)

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September Starter Sale - Starter Sets & More at DTRPG

I'm a huge fan of Starter Sets for RPGs. Heck, the Pathfinder 1e Basic Box presented the Pathfinder system in a manner I would have been comfortable running, let alone laying. They tend to give you the rules you need, not everything and the kitchen sink. 

For the next few days, DTRPG is running a September Starter Sale. I have a few Tavern Picks to highlight, the three I own in print.

Call of Cthulhu Starter Set - Probably the best value bang for the buck available for horror roleplaying. I can't speak highly enough for the CoC Starter Set, especially with Halloween around the corner. Book 1: Introduction and Alone Against The Flames—a solo introductory adventure, teaching you the basics of Call of Cthulhu as you play through a mystery. Book 2: Call of Cthulhu Starter Rules—the essential rules, everything needed for starting play. Book 3: Adventures—three starter adventures for your players to explore. Ready to Play Investigators—five ready-to-play game characters. Blank Investigator Sheets—ready for creating your own investigators. Player Handouts – a set of ready-to-use props. Adventures! This box comes packed with four classic adventures for over twenty hours of gameplay. Alone Against The Flames,  Paper Chase Edge of Darkness Dead Man Stomp. 9.99  6.99

ALIEN RPG Starter Set - This was a recommended purchase by a close friend, and they were spot on. This reads like it will do a great job allowing one to play in the Alien franchise. This is a starter set for the official ALIEN tabletop roleplaying game—a universe of body horror and corporate brinkmanship, where synthetic people play god while space truckers and marines play host to newborn ghoulish creatures. It’s a harsh and unforgiving universe and you are nothing if not expendable. Stay alive if you can. This set contains everything you need to start playing: A 104-page rulebook with a fast and effective ruleset designed specifically to support the core themes of ALIEN: horror and action in the cold darkness of space. The 48-page complete scenario Chariot of the Gods by sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska, taking you on a thrilling, terror-filled ride into deep space where no one can hear you scream. Chariot of the Gods is designed for 3–5 players plus the GM. Five pre-generated characters to play. A huge full-color, double-sided map, with one side depicting chartered space in the year 2183 and the other floor plans for the Chariot of the Gods scenario. 84 game markers for keeping track of characters, motion tracker pings, and more. 56 custom cards for weapons, personal agendas, and initiative in combat.  19.99  13.99

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition Starter Set - WFRP 4e feels much like 1e/2e. Thankfully, 3e and its weird dice can be ignored.The perfect introduction to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, this set includes: 48-page Adventure Book to teach you how to play with an introductory adventure plus 10 follow-on scenario. 64-page A Guide To Ubersreik. 6 Ready-made Characters. Introduction to Ubersreik and the Empire sheet. Game handouts. Rules Reference Sheets. 14.99  10.49

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Props to DRTRP for a Quick Response to a Report of Offensive Material - Deal of the Day

 I'd like to give a huge "thank you" to DTRPG for quickly responding and taking action to address a complaint with today's Deal of the Day. 

Below is a screenshot of today's Deal of the Day:

Notice that last line? I certainly did. I emailed a polite complaint.

Within 15 minutes I had a personalized response that my complaint was forwarded up the chain of command.

In less than 90 minutes I had the following email:

A few minutes later the company's catalog was offline:

Well played, DTRPG. Well played.

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Deal of the Day - Magical Industrial Revolution (OSR)

There has simply been a huge OSR presence in the recent Deal of the Day promotions over at DTRPG. Today is no different. Well, Magical Industrial Revolution is OSR but it IS different ;)

Normally 15 bucks in PDF, until tomorrow morning Magical Industrial Revolution is 9 bucks.

This book is about Atlantis before the tide turned. It’s about Hyperborea before it vanished between dimensions. It’s about Nu Yark Citee before the Mushroom Bombs hit. 

It’s a setting guide to the greatest and most ambitious city in the world: Endon. It’s about a world slowly tipping onto its side, and all the interesting things that begin to slide at the start of a revolution. It’s about people with grand dreams pushing the boundaries of the possible, and the strange machines and devices they create along the way. 

But mostly, it’s about magic. 

Magical Industrial Revolution: A Pre-Apocalyptic Setting Guide contains a wealth of information to supplement Role Playing Games, including: 

• Maps, People, Buildings, Dungeons, Factions, and Villains of Endon
• Eight Pre-Apocalyptic Innovations
• Hundreds of Magic Items and Spells
• Rules for Magical Industry
• Useful Tools for Urban Campaigns
• Horrible Monsters and Nightmarish Creatures
• And much, much more. 

By Skerples, the author of the CoinsandScrolls blog, Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Kidnap the Archpriest, Epochrypha, and Magical Murder Mansion. Art by Jonathan Newell, Logan Stahl, & Luka Rejec. Editing, layout, and incalculably valuable assistance by David Shugars. Additional editing by Fiona Geist. 

Three very useful pamphlets featuring magical industrial tips, hanging ballads, and local attractions are provided along with the 156 page book. The PDF is fully optimized and bookmarked.

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Deal of the Day - Sly Flourish's Fantastic Locations (System Neutral)

I've heard only good things about the Sly Flourish line of releases, and the fact that it is system neutral is even more appealing. Sly Flourish's Fantastic Locations is today's Deal of the Day at DTRPG.

We RPG game masters have a lot of tools to help us run our roleplaying games. Our monster books and bestiaries give us piles of foes to throw at our adventurers. The various guides for game masters often give us non-player characters, treasures, and story-building tips. 

One of the hardest parts of game mastering, however, is coming up with interesting adventure locations for our characters to explore. These locations need to be fantastic, detailed places that capture the minds of our players every session we run. Good locations are hard to improvise and often hard to strip out of a fully-fleshed-out adventure. 

Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Locations is a book, available in PDF and print-on-demand, that gives you twenty system-agnostic locations to drop into your favorite fantasy roleplaying game. Each location builds on a fantastic theme, such as a mysterious ancient structure under the ice, a cursed castle of a mad king, a fallen celestial fortress, and a dwarven mine that cracked into the tomb of a dead god. Each location includes artwork by Brian Patterson of D20Monkey. Sometimes this artwork takes the form of maps. Sometimes it's an overlook of a specific location. 

These sites and structures aren’t full adventures. Instead, you and your players build your own stories in these fantastic locations, then you populate them with the monsters that fit your story. 

Thanks to the support of 779 backers on Kickstarter this book was expanded to include a total of twenty locations each with full color artwork. 

This book is system agnostic. You can use it in just about any fantasy roleplaying game.

Normally 15 bucks in PDF, until tomorrow morning Sly Flourish's Fantastic Locations is on sale for 6 bucks.

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What Constitutes "Small Press" on DTRPG?

Until OBS killed the RPGNow webstore / portal, I rarely paid attention to the DTRPG side of things. There was no need to, as RPGNow did a much better job of reflecting products I would be interested on their home page.

Now I'm paying more attention to DTRPG and it has my head spinning a bit.

Case in point. Cubicle 7 is on the Hottest Small Press released with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition Buildings of the Reikland currently at #3 and Wrath & Glory: Core Rules at #7, and then we have Savage Worlds Adventure Edition from Pinnacle at #4.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition Buildings of the Reikland is #43 on the Bestselling Titles but is beat by other Cubicle 7 books on that list, with Rough Nights and Hard Days and the WFRP book at #13 & #15 respectively.  I always thought Cubicle 7 and Pinnacle were many steps beyond "Small Press".

Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. The Second Edition, Version 2.01 from R. Talsorian Games Inc. is #6 on the Bestselling Titles list but appears nowhere on the Hottest Small Press list. Is R.Tlasorian Games NOT "Small Press"?

I'd be very interested in knowing under what conditions a company is categorized as "small press" by OBS.

I'll probably dig into this a bit further. For know, just interesting observations.

edit - Cubicle 7 has 7 titles in the BestSelling Titles Top 100, coming in at 13, 15, 30, 43, 67 and 78 - yet somehow is "Small press"

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